Russell Brand Speaks to Parliament about Addiction (VIDEO)

In a nutshell, Russell Brand and Chip Somers speak to Parliament about how to handle addiction the addiction problem.

Brand argues that addiction should be treated as a health issue and not a legal issue. However, Brand and Somers don’t advocate legalizing drugs.

Maybe one of the more important topics speaks about punishment. Brand argues that penalizing addicts is pointless. That we need to treat addicts with love and compassion.

Michael Ellis (a member of the committee) states that to some extend addiction is “self induced.”

When looking at the criminal justice system, doesn’t one have to have compassion for the victims of the crimes where those crimes are committed by those people under the influence of drugs?”

Brand rebuttals saying that

“If people are committing criminal behavior you need to deal with them legally, but you need to offer them treatment. It deals with the problem, and it prevents further crimes being committed. I think there needs to be love and compassion for everybody involved. Addicts that get clean, one day at a time, through abstinence based recovery, generally speaking, stop committing crimes. That’s better for the victims, better for the addict and better for society.”

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